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diff --git a/Docs/History b/Docs/History new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..d92bf11436e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/Docs/History @@ -0,0 +1,249 @@ +History - History of the DTraceToolkit + +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +20-Apr-2005 Brendan Gregg Idea + For a while I had thought that a DTrace toolkit would be a nice + idea, but on this day it became clear. I was explaining DTrace to + an SSE from Sun (Canberra, Australia), who had a need for using + DTrace but didn't have the time to sit down and write all the + tools he was after. It simply made sense to have a DTrace toolkit + that people could download or carry around a copy to use. Some + people would write DTrace tools, others would use the toolkit. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +15-May-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.30 + I had discussed the idea of a DTrace toolkit with the Sun PAE guys in + Adelaide, Australia. It was making more sense now. It would be much + like the SE Toolkit, not just due to the large number of sample + scripts provided, but also due to the role it would play: few people + wrote SE Toolkit programs, more people used it as a toolkit. While + we would like a majority of Solaris users to write DTrace scripts, + the reality is that many would want to use a prewritten toolkit. + Today I created the toolkit as version 0.30, with 11 main directories, + a dozen scripts, man pages and a structure for documentation. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +16-May-2005 Brendan Gregg OneLiners + I've been using the toolkit for a day now (wow!), and have noticed + a few problems I've been fixing. One of them was the dtrace oneliners. + I have them in two files, Docs/oneliners.txt and the examples in + Docs/Examples/oneliners_examples.txt. The problem is that when I'm + looking for a script, I'm looking in Docs/Commands - a list of the + seperate script files, or I'm doing an ls or find. Ok, so I've now + made each one liner a seperate script. This seems at first pretty + silly since they are oneliners and shouldn't deserve an entire script + each, but I've found having them as seperate scripts makes them far + easier to find and use. The scripts and man page for each script do + point out the fact that it's a one liner. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +17-May-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.33 + Version 0.33 with 33 scripts. Maybe I should make the version number + equal the script count. :) I just finished dtruss, dapptrace and + dappprof. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +08-Jun-2005 Brendan Gregg Name changes. + I've renamed Docs/Commands to Docs/Contents. I found myself typing + "more Docs/Contents" by mistake a lot. ok, maybe it made more sense + to call it Contents after all. I've also made a symlink to it called + Index. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +08-Jun-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.35 + Version 0.35 with 35 scripts. Also touched up procsystime and some + man pages. Added the CDDL version 1.0. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +09-Jun-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.42 + Added 7 more scripts. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +14-Jun-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.57 + Added heaps of new scripts. Now at 57 scripts. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +17-Jun-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.61 + Restyled many commands. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +28-Jun-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.70 + Added several commands including dexplorer. Developed a few useful + variants of classic scripts while writing dexplorer, and have added + them to the toolkit (I kept wanting to run them individually but + not have to run an entire dexplorer). +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +25-Jul-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.77 + Added tcpsnoop.d, tcpsnoop, tcptop. Because of their addition I have + dropped tcpwbytes.d and tcpwlist. These are complex scripts, but they + track TCP in an accurate manner. However! also because they are + complex scripts, I expect they will require maintainence for newer + versions of [Open]Solaris, as various probes may change. They will + become much more stable once a network provider has been added to + DTrace (which may be some time away). + Also added iotop, and updated a bunch of scripts. A lot of work went + into this version, although the version change doesn't reflect that + (I'm still keeping the version number == to number of scripts). + Also added rwsnoop, rwtop, and more. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +26-Jul-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.82 + Many new scripts added, many updates. This is a major release. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +17-Sep-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.83 + A few scripts have been updated so that they work better. + execsnoop, iosnoop, opensnoop and rwsnoop will be more responsive + (increased switchrate). +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +22-Sep-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.84 + Some updates, fixed some bugs (cputimes, cpudists). Added cpuwalk.d. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +15-Nov-2005 Brendan Gregg Sys Admin Magazine + Ryan Matteson wrote an article on the DTraceToolkit which has been + printed in Sys Admin Magazine, December 2005. It's quite good, + and made it as the feature article - which means it will be available + online for some time. Thanks Matty, and Sys Admin Magazine! + "Observing I/O Behavior with the DTraceToolkit" + http://www.samag.com/documents/sam0512a/ +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +01-Dec-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.88 + Many scripts were updated. Added the Apps category. I had planned + to add some key scripts, but they haven't made it out of testing yet. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +03-Dec-2005 Brendan Gregg Version 0.89 + Added nfswisard.d, fixed a minor bug with tcp* tools (see + dtrace-discuss mailing list). +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +12-Jan-2006 Brendan Gregg Version 0.92 + Added a few scripts including rwbytype.d. Fixed several issues. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +09-Apr-2006 Brendan Gregg Solaris Internals 2nd Edition + In the past few months I have been contributing to Solaris Internals + 2nd Edition. This book (now two volumes) is really amazing. The 2nd + volume does use the DTraceToolkit where appropriate, and covers loads + of useful topics. While writing and reviewing material for Solaris + Internals, I've had numerous new ideas for DTrace scripts. Not only + that, but a few people have managed to send me well styled, carefully + tested, well considered DTrace scripts for inclusion in the toolkit. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +20-Apr-2006 Brendan Gregg TCP bug fixed + Stefan Parvu sent me a bug for the tcp* scripts: on build 31+ they + error'd on the symbol SS_TCP_FAST_ACCEPT. This symbol was + renamed to SS_DIRECT (I checked the code, they are used in the + same way). Ironically, when I first wrote the scripts I had hardcoded + the value 0x00200000, then rewrote it "properly" by importing + the header files and using the symbol name. Had I been lazy and left + it hardcoded, the bug would never have eventuated. Not to worry, + it has returned to being hardcoded, so that it works on all builds + (until something else changes). +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +21-Apr-2006 Brendan Gregg Restyled - again! + I've been writing the "DTraceToolkit Style Guide", to document + the style that these scripts obey. It is quite strict, and sets + the bar fairly high. I've been warned that it may cause very few + people to ever contribute scripts, which is fine. At some point + I'll carefully explain the mentality behind this, but in a nutshell: + Users on critical production servers expect the tools to be + accurate, carefully tested, and cause no undocumented harm. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +22-Apr-2006 Brendan Gregg Docs changes + The "Contrib" file was merged into the "Who" file. In hindsight + it is better to keep this data together than to split it up. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +24-Apr-2006 Brendan Gregg Version 0.96 + The toolkit now contains 104 scripts, however I'll keep the version + number < 1.00 until the dust has settled on these new scripts. + There is some special significance with version 1.00, it would + imply that every script had been tested for some time - not that + I've just added a few. + There is a new main directory, FS for file system related scripts. + There are some interesting scripts in there, from or based on + Solaris Internals 2nd ed, vol 2. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +30-Sep-2007 Brendan Gregg Version 0.99 + It's been a year and a half since the last release, and a lot has + happneed. Firstly, the DTraceToolkit has featured in the Prentice Hall + book, + Solaris Performance and Tools + DTrace and mdb techniques for Solaris 10 and OpenSolaris + + written by Richard McDougall, Jim Mauro and myself. It is a companion + book to "Solaris Internals 2nd edition" by Richard McDougall and + Jim Mauro. If you are serious about becomming a DTrace guru, + especially on Solaris, then please study both books. (Yes, I realize + that many people are using the DTraceToolkit because they don't have + the time or don't want to become DTrace gurus; well, so long as + you are using DTrace anyway :). The performance book was a great relief + to write - since we were able to put to print much performance wisdom + and knowledge that was begging to be documented. + + Then, in late 2006 I joined an advanced products engineering team + at Sun in San Francisco, a team which includes the three members of + team DTrace. It's been a great opportunity to learn from such + engineers, and to contribute more directly to DTrace. So far my work + has included writing a JavaScript provider, integrated inet_ntoa() + style functions into DTrace, and prototying DTrace IP, TCP and UDP + providers. + + Working on the network providers is good news for the DTraceToolkit, + as it will indirectly help the tcp* scripts become more stable. Yes, + those scripts have broken a few more times during the last 18 months, + sorry about that, and it will keep happening until we have stable + network providers. This is why I only ever wrote three tcp* scripts, + and not at least a dozen, which I'd really like to do. + + I did leave my pile of old SPARC and x86 development servers behind + in Australia, and brought over a couple of laptops. That has made me + more dependant on Stefan for testing the toolkit - especially on SPARC. + + So, it's been about 18 months since the last release, which is + mostly due to having less spare time due to moving countries and + learning a new job. + + Michelle from Sun docs has been asking for a newer version of the + DTraceToolkit for the OpenSolaris starter kit, which is why I'm + releasing this version now and not waiting a few more weeks as + I complete bug fixes. + + So the good and the bad news for this release, starting with the bad, + + Bad: tcpsnoop/tcptop still don't work on some Solaris 10 releases. + I've added versions that should work on Solaris Nevada and OpenSolaris + for releases from around late 2007. They are likely to break again. + The real answer, as always, is for stable nework providers to be + integrated into Solaris. + + Many of the exciting new language provider scripts in this release + currently require downloading, patching and compling of the language + interpreter to get working. See the Readme file in each directory + for pointers. + + Good: many more scripts to cover the new DTrace language providers + that are available (the DTraceToolkit is now 227 scripts). Many + updates to the Notes directory. Bug fixes. Some new categories + other than for scripts: Code - for simple programs to DTrace (and + for the example files), and Snippits - for useful lumps of DTrace + code to copy-n-paste from. The man pages are also making room + for documenting both stability and supported operating systems for + each script - now that DTrace exists for MacOS X Leopard, the + DTraceToolkit will begin supporting multiple operating systems. + + This can be thought of as a developer's release of the DTraceToolkit - + to help people start using DTrace with Perl, Python, Ruby, Php, Java, + JavaScript, Shell and Tcl. I've written about 15 scripts for each + language, to cover the basics and to show the way for deeper analysis. + The scripts are also similar from one language to another, having + devoleped a tried-and-tested group of scripts for analyzing real world + issues - it made sense to repeat these scripts for every language + possible. To see what I mean, try reading, + + Examples/j_cputime_example.txt Examples/py_cputime_example.txt + Examples/js_cputime_example.txt Examples/rb_cputime_example.txt + Examples/php_cputime_example.txt Examples/sh_cputime_example.txt + Examples/pl_cputime_example.txt Examples/tcl_cputime_example.txt + + You might notice that the example files are more clearly and carefully + explained. Claire (my wife), wrote close to one hundred of them for + this release while I focused on writing and testing the scripts. + Claire has worked as a SysAdmin and as an IT instructor, and is well + skilled at explaining relavent technical details. And she can spell + much better than I can. :) + + The future: I still have many new scripts and some bug fixes in mind, + as well as generally improving the Notes and Examples provided. + Hopefully it won't be too many months before you see another + release. Check here for the lastest installment, + + http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/dtrace/dtracetoolkit +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + |